Salami’s Story

Sure, when you think European Bakery & café you think pastries, breads, cakes, desserts, maybe coffee! But you know, we also serve a wide range of sandwiches too! Made using a wide number of deli cut meats and high quality imported and domestic cheeses. In that vein, this time on the blog we are looking at meats, specifically salami!

Salami is an entirely uncooked meat! However, that doesn’t mean it is raw. Salami is in fact cured. The name salami itself coming from the Italian word salame. It is singular and plural, meaning cured meats of Italian, though any European can count, style. In Italian, it translates to ‘all kinds of salted.’

Traditionally, salami is made from pork or beef, though many other types of meat are used. If the food is being made in a halal or kosher fashion, then beef is used rather than pork. Other typical ingredients include minced fat, salt (of course!) garlic, spices, herbs, vinegar, and wine. Mixing the meat, it is then left to ferment for about a day before being stuffed into casing and hung to cure. Some recipes may call for heating the salami up to increase the rate of fermentation and drying but this is not the norm.

Super-Fast Salami Facts

Salami has a long shelf life, due to its low water activity and the preservatives in it.

Northern and Central Europe prefer a smoked salami.

Over 400 volatile compounds have been identified in various dry-fermented sausages. (Volatile doesn’t mean bad!)

There are over 20 varieties of salami!

Chorizo and pepperoni are both types of salami!

Salami can keep at room temperature for up to 40 days after it’s been cut!

Alright, that’ll do it for us this time on the European Bakery blog! If all that salami talk has got you salivating, we know just the place to grab a bite.